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Marcus Smart identifies key reason Lakers haven’t peaked

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints
By Josue Pavon, ClutchPoints | Last updated Feb 23, 2026 8:16 PM ET

For Lakers guard Marcus Smart, the best has yet to come for his team, as he offered an optimistic point of view at practice on Monday. While coach JJ Redick took responsibility for the Lakers’ shortcomings on offense, Smart identified the bigger picture for Los Angeles.

Smart believes the Lakers have enough talent to reach their full potential, and is confident that they’ll find their stride between now and the end of the regular season, he said, per the California Post’s Khobi Price.

“We’re good. The talent is there, we’ve got the pieces. It’s just making them mesh. We haven’t been healthy, which is a big part when you’re trying to get pieces to mesh. You’ve got to be healthy. Different lineups in play, but I think that’s going to help us in the long run because we’ve got to see different lineups — guys in different spots and different roles that they’re not used to. We definitely have some work to do.

“Everybody knows that. But we’re hanging in there. The objective of it is that everybody in this league is coming around the right time, getting ready to play the best basketball you can play.”

Marcus Smart on how good he thinks the Lakers are and how close the group is to being its best version: "We're good. The talent is there, we've got the pieces. It’s just making them mesh. We haven't been healthy, which is a big part when you're trying to get pieces to mesh." pic.twitter.com/2xlR7CE262

— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) February 23, 2026

Marcus Smart and the Lakers scored a season low 89 points in their blowout loss to the Boston Celtics (111-89) on Sunday.

JJ Redick takes responsibility for Lakers’ offensive shortcomings

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Head coach JJ Redick took on the blame for the Lakers inability to find their offensive rhythm in their 22-point loss to the Celtics. After Lakers forward Rui Hachimura discussed their failing offense, Redick took on the responsibility.

For the Lakers head coach, he has to set his team up to be ready to counter an elite defense as the Celtics, which Redick said, he failed to do, as the California Post’s Khobi Price noted.

“When teams play the deep drop, we have our counters, and we just got to [execute],” Redick said. “I took ownership of that. We have our counters for deep drop. We got to do a better job of….we looked it up today. Our lowest potential assist games are all against the deep drop, so I got to do a better job.”

JJ Redick's response when asked about the Lakers' ball movement, and whether the lack of it makes them more predictable for defenses:

"When teams play the deep drop, we have our counters and we just got to [execute]…I took ownership of that. We have our counters for deep… pic.twitter.com/wwfRZ1OAXl

— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) February 23, 2026